Abortion In Texas Has A Decrease In Number; Further Travel Distance To Abortion Clinics Plays A Role

Abortion in Texas has recently declined in numbers. The current report shows a Texas law that later becomes unconstitutional. A new study suggests that the increased travel distances going to the abortion clinics in the state resulted to have lowered the number of abortions.

Consumer Health Day reported that the abortion law in Texas was enacted in 2013. However, the researchers said that the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in 2016. But 24 abortion clinics have already closed down in the state. It simply means that women in some of the areas in the state had to travel farther to end their pregnancies.

The researchers have found out that there is a 50 percent drop in the number of abortions in the counties where the distance to the nearest abortion facility has an increase of 100 miles or more. In the study that is published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, an author said that there was virtually no change in the counties that did not have an abortion provider in 2014 or did not have a change in the distance to the nearest abortion facility.

Overall, according to the state data, abortion in Texas decreased by 18.5 percent between the years 2012 and 2014. The falloff was closely associated with a significant drop in the abortion centers, from 41 to 17 between 2013 and 2016.

However, the study did not prove any connection between the law and the subsequent decline in abortions. 

The U.S. Supreme Court invalidated the Texas abortion law in June 2016, the ruling of two of its provisions unconstitutional.

Dr. Daniel Grossman, a researcher, said that, "Our study gives further insight into the ways that the clinic closures due to Texas' restrictive law resulted in an undue burden on women seeking access to abortion care in Texas," according to Health.